Bloody Roar I: The Lone Wolf
by Tiger5913
Summary: Yugo had gotten accustomed to being alone, until the investigation of his father's death brought virtuous Alice and young Kenji into his life. [mild Yugo x Alice]


8/25/07

Disclaimer: the characters in this fic such as Yugo, Alice, etc. don't belong to me, although if they did, Yugo would stop being so damn inhibited with his feelings and pounce on Alice already… ---evil grin---

Dedication: God, my parents, my 'brothers', Hudson for creating Bloody Roar I-IV and giving me a really good reason to write this story, and my beloved friends, especially VGuyver, Andrew Glasco, IndigoSiren, SilverLocke980, Beastman, and all of you wonderful readers!!

Special dedication to: IndigoSiren and Andrew Glasco in particular, for patiently putting up with me when I bother them, hehe, and to all the other fans of Yugo x Alice.

**Bloody Roar I: The Lone Wolf**

**By Tiger5913**

His gaze flickered over the small piece of paper once again, and then he turned to the side and casually glanced at the child-size form resting upon the cot next to his bed. Two weeks had passed since he found the boy wandering around the rubble and burnt ruins of the Tylon Corporation, and he had taken him home that very same night. For some reason he had yet to discover, the kid was still stoic and mute to present day, his eyes vacant and emotionless no matter what he saw, and his new guardian couldn't figure out how to help him. In fact, he frequently even wondered what had possessed him to take a child in under his wing for him to become his responsibility, and care for a – little brother, adopted son, whatever he was.

At merely seventeen years of age, not yet old enough to be an adult, the young man was an orphan, having recently lost his father, while his mother had died many years ago. He had been an only child his whole life, although that wasn't by choice; his parents just laughed fondly whenever he'd asked them to bring home a sibling from the hospital for him. Well, it seemed as though in a twist of fate, he had finally gotten one after all this time, despite the fact that the poor kid was somehow traumatized and probably didn't even have a name. The brown-haired teenager figured that the boy needed more time to adjust to his new surroundings, and maybe after a while, he would feel secure and sound enough to speak.

_"Hey. My name's Yugo. What's yours, kid?"_

The detached child had remained motionless as he stared back silently, his eyes void of emotion while the rest of his face was completely stoic, almost as if he felt absolutely nothing.

Thinking about the boy's condition reminded the older youth of another little girl that had been trapped at Tylon, and only recently escaped with the help of her mother and a friend… During his chaotic escapade of invading the Tylon building, Yugo Ohgami had taken down many opponents along the way, with the sole exception of a zoanthrope with very powerful abilities. If it hadn't been for the assistance of an old army friend of his father's, the wolf zoanthrope didn't think that he could have emerged from the hectic battle with all his limbs still in-tact. Now, many days later, he found himself wondering how she was doing, if she could cope with all that had happened to her… or had she also been stricken with too much emotional disturbance to speak?

A flash of blue darted across his mind just then, bringing a slight grin of pleasure to his face at the sudden reminder of the soft-spoken, but clearly determined teenage girl he had previously crossed paths with. One look into her unique eyes and he instantly realized that she, too, was a victim of Tylon's cruel experimentation, as her ruby red irises shone with haunting remorse. Gentle Alice Tsukagami… she had kind of a high-pitched voice that made him jump whenever she shrieked, but she was nice and compassionate, and not to mention very cute. She was different from the other giggly, ditzy girls at his school… deeper and much more serious, but she had a soft, lilting laugh that went well with her sweet, sympathetic smile.

Due to his own beast form, he was surprised to discover that Alice was a rabbit zoanthrope, as that made their friendship just vaguely odd, only a tad… He had found out her animal counterpart when the two had initially fought each other before they realized that they were actually allies, both viewing Tylon as the evil foe. She transformed into a white-furred rabbit and became a hazy blur that bounced around giddily, smartly avoiding his punches and kicks by jumping high over his head and off the walls. The battle came to an end when Yugo finally managed to grab her, and after pinning her down firmly, they both lost their beast energy from the exhausted efforts, and reverted back to human form.

After that, the two teenagers had wearily introduced themselves to each other, and then they tentatively shared their respective reasons for being around the vicinity of the Tylon Corporation. Before the invasion of the company had taken place, Yugo had been scoping the out the area and trying to find out information about their rumored involvement with his father's death. Alice had been captured by Tylon a few months prior, immediately following the death of her parents in a sudden accident, but the girl had managed to escape with the help of her selfless cellmate. That was the same little kid with the startlingly powerful zoanthrope abilities, and the young man thought she had probably gotten poked and experimented on in order to have acquired the were-chimera form.

With the successful operation causing the downfall of the Tylon Corporation, the two new friends parted ways, him returning to his life of solitude, and her joining a family. But before they separated, Alice had given him a cheerful, joyous hug and wished him the best, along with slipping him a little scrap of paper that had her name and phone number on it. Not to be misinterpreted, she explained with a sweet smile that she wanted to continue their friendship after the invasion incident, and she encouraged him to keep in touch with her. Yugo grinned and immediately tucked the paper securely into his pocket, and he heartily promised to give her a call after things had settled down a little; he certainly didn't want to bother her too soon and risk losing her company for good.

Two weeks was probably long enough for him to contact her again, but despite his tough-guy façade, he was just a tad nervous, wondering if he might be disturbing her, or if she had already forgotten him. Could Alice, a sweet and compassionate girl, really want to be friends with a brash and rugged – and sometimes reckless – guy like him? He was used to being alone after his father left to go to war, and he socialized when he had free time, but he didn't really have any close friends. In high school, Yugo had some buddies, but after graduation, they all gone off to attend universities while he had just learned of his father's death, and went to search for the killer responsible, and thus his education was postponed and put on the backburner.

Now, not only was the young man an orphan, but he also had a kid to take care of, a whole other life that he was responsible for, and he didn't know if he could do so properly, as he had no experience in that area at all. And who could he go to if the child had some problem in the future, or he didn't get better and continued to be mute for a long time? Yugo seriously doubted a psychologist would do any good for a boy that had been traumatized into silence. There was also the slight factor of his kid's zoanthrope heritage… was he born one, or had he been forcibly given the ability? The wolf zoanthrope had no idea, and even if he found out, he wouldn't know how to help, but then it occurred to him suddenly that maybe Alice could assist the touchy situation in some way…

He fingered the little scrap of paper again, and with a wry grin of mild bemusement at his own timid behavior, Yugo rose and walked over to the phone, picking up the cradle to dial a set of unfamiliar numbers.

"Hello, Nonomura residence," a sweet voice spoke into his ear after the ringing was abruptly cut off.

"Uh, Alice? This is… Yugo," and before she could reply, he quickly blurted out in invitation, "Hey, are you… free tomorrow?"

-----

"…Come on, kid. Go play," the brown-haired teenager encouraged as he gently prodded the mute child toward the playground within the spacious park.

The boy gazed up at him blankly, and then tentatively began to make his way over, heading for the swing set, where he plopped down on one and kept his eyes focused upon the ground.

Yugo sighed heavily as he lifted his head to glance at the clear blue sky, wondering how the kid could stay depressed when he was outside on such a nice, sunny and breezy day. When he was younger, he had enjoyed going to the park with his parents and playing with the neighborhood kids, running around laughing and screaming while basking in the warm, pleasant weather. He and the other boys even had fun chasing girls on occasion, until the adults had gotten involved and shooed the young pursuers away from their shrieking, giggling daughters. The memory made the wolf zoanthrope smile fondly, and he vaguely wondered if Alice had ever done the same as a child; he certainly wouldn't have minded dashing after _her_, game or not…

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by, "Hi, Yugo…"

The young man turned to glance at a girl with dark blue hair and familiar red eyes standing before him, holding onto the hand of a brunette child that he recognized immediately. _Huh, it's that kid with the were-chimera…_

"Hey, Alice. Good to see ya," he greeted her with a friendly grin, and then he gestured at her companion, "Is this your sister that you told me about?"

"Oh, yes," Alice gazed warmly at the adjacent child and introduced the two, "Yugo, I'd like you to meet Uriko. Sis, Yugo is a friend of mine. We met a couple of weeks ago."

"Hi…" Young Uriko Nonomura mumbled shyly as her wide brown eyes glanced at the wolf zoanthrope, and then she quickly ducked behind her sister's back in a demure gesture.

"Nice to meet ya, kid," he replied jovially, and fought a secret urge to snicker at her apprehensive behavior – really, were **all** kids her age that bashful these days? He couldn't remember being like that before… "Hey, my little bro's over there on that swing. You wanna go play with him, Uriko?"

"Um… okay," she agreed quietly after receiving a nod of encouragement from her sibling, and so the small girl gingerly let go of the protective hand to slowly walk forward and approach the lone boy at the swing set.

"So…" Yugo drawled smoothly as his blue-haired friend sat down next to him and laid her hands upon her lap, folded neatly over the bright red material of her skirt, "How's everything going? You doing okay?"

Alice nodded and smiled in her cute way, answering in a gentle tone, "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Aunt Mitsuko's been really nice and generous to me… I'm really lucky to be living with her and Uriko."

"Good to hear," the young man chimed in with a grin of agreement and casually leaned back in a more comfortable position, trying not to appear overeager as he purposefully rested his arm across the bench, near her shoulders. "I noticed your sister's kinda shy, like my little brother."

She cast a glance over in the direction of the two aforementioned children and expressed softly, "I think it's really sweet of you to take care of that poor boy, Yugo… What's his name?"

"Uh, well," he shrugged and sheepishly reached up to scratch the back of his head before reluctantly admitting, "Honestly? I don't know. The kid, uh, doesn't really talk that much…"

"Oh… is he all right? Did he tell you… what happened to him at Tylon…?" The rabbit zoanthrope questioned as her eyes shone with clear concern and sympathy for the young boy that had been abandoned.

"…No," Yugo confessed reluctantly, his gaze downcast in slight shame as his shoulders slumped a bit, feeling like he had failed the kid by not having earned his trust.

"What's wrong, Yugo?"

"It's nothing," he denied quickly, trying to cover up the brief exposure of his hidden anxiety.

She peered at his facial features with a slight frown of worry, but otherwise, her expression was compassionate and sympathetic; surely she knew that something was troubling him, but she didn't press for information.

Long moments of silence stretched between the pair as they both remained facing forward, watching their young siblings interact with each other at the swing set. From the way her mouth kept moving, Uriko seemed to be the only one talking while the boy just sat and stared into space, his small frame moving with the motion of his swing. The chestnut-haired girl reached across and tugged gently on his chain, making him sway in a half-circle, and he immediately looked up at her in response, his gaze intense with reprimand. She released her hold and fearlessly offered him a smile, and after a few minutes, she said something that calmed him down, and then the two kids gradually began to swing together, surprisingly in-sync.

Yugo watched the scene with great interest, his eyes slightly widened at the sight of the introverted boy finally cooperating and showing some sort of response with another person. _Damn, that little girl, Uriko, she's pretty good…_

"It looks like those two are getting along," Alice mused gently, her tone sounding happy at the aspect.

"Yeah… I wonder what's her secret, heh, heh." He tried not to appear too eager to find out that tidbit of information, but he couldn't help wondering if maybe Uriko could clue him in on how to get through to his little brother…

"He just needs time, Yugo," the compassionate rabbit zoanthrope assured him as she turned to meet his eyes. "Try to be patient with him… he'll open up and start talking when he feels safe. Your brother… he probably went through a tough time at Tylon."

The brown-haired teenager felt a surge of anger stinging his nerves at the mention of the nefarious corporation, but the faint pain in her expression cooled his temper a bit. He asked her without thinking, "What did those bastards do to you?"

The unease of her facial features intensified at his question, and he mentally kicked himself for making her think about the unpleasant memories of her horrid days trapped in Tylon.

Her ruby red eyes were downcast and she remained quiet for a few minutes before slowly answering, "I was… experimented on. They were… really interested in my zoanthrope powers. But, I think it was nothing compared to Uriko… she suffered so much more. I didn't want to show her any of my own pain. I had to be strong for her."

Yugo had to make a conscious effort to keep his mouth shut while she was talking, and he listened to her words carefully, feeling his resentment toward Tylon spiking rapidly. How could one single company have the power to bring such great torment to so many people? The young man hated them for killing his father, but he hadn't thought of the others that suffered, like Alice, Uriko, and his new kid brother – they must have been put through really hellish times. He couldn't even imagine how it would have felt to be trapped there and suffering the experimentation in their shoes, and if pressed for the truth, he'd have to admit that he truly didn't want to know, or experience the same situations.

_…What do I say to that?_ He silently fumbled for an appropriate response, and while he was grasping around mentally, he had to resist the urge to fidget restlessly in a mildly nervous gesture. By her expression, the wolf zoanthrope could tell that recalling the nasty incident was bringing her lighthearted mood down, and he sought to give comfort with the first thing that came to his mind. With just a second of brief hesitation, Yugo slid his arm off of the bench and placed it around her shoulders, squeezing her forearm gently, to which she lifted her chin in slight surprise. After a moment, Alice turned to him with a sweet smile and leaned lightly into his hold; he grinned a bit, relieved that she seemed to understand his lack of a verbal response.

The two remained quietly seated upon the bench for some time as the afternoon gradually slipped into evening, and when the sky began to darken, it was time to go home.

"Hey, uh, thanks for coming today," Yugo remarked casually to his company before the pairs of siblings would part ways. "It was nice to see you again, Uriko. Be a good kid for your sister, okay?"

Clutching her sister's hand securely, the child nodded and replied in a shy tone, "Okay. Um, 'bye, Yugo…" she turned to the young boy and waved with her free hand while saying, "'Bye, Kenji."

Hearing the unknown name uttered in relation to his brother, the brown-haired teenager immediately gazed down at the aforementioned figure, feeling amazed that he had finally spoken, and it was thanks to the little girl. _So, that's his name, huh? Kenji… Hmm. She **is** good._

"I'm Alice," the rabbit zoanthrope told the boy kindly, and he nodded silently in response, still apparently timid and understandably weary of strangers; to Uriko, he said nothing, but he did give her a faint, partial smile.

"Well… I guess we'll see you ladies around," Yugo addressed the sisters with a friendly grin, and then he sent Alice a meaningful look, clearly indicating his concern for her, as well as his interest to see her again.

She giggled with understanding and encouraged him, "Yes. Let's meet up again sometime, Yugo."

"You bet," he replied instantly, still gazing at her with fondness in his eyes.

"Good night, boys," Alice bid them farewell, and then after a gentle tug on her sibling's hand, she turned around to start heading toward their home with her younger sister in tow.

The wolf zoanthrope watched her retreating back until the two went out of sight, and then he turned his attention to the boy; "Guess it's just us now. Come on, kid. Let's go grab a bite downtown."

The child lifted his head to glance at the older figure for a moment, and then he uttered quietly, "M-my name is Kenji… Are… are you my brother…?"

Yugo grinned proudly and silently thanked Alice for bringing her friendly little sister around and helping the kid feel comfortable enough to begin talking at all, and especially to him. He assured the dark-haired boy firmly, "Yep, I sure am. You don't have to worry about anything anymore, 'cause I'll be looking out for you from now on, Kenji."

Surprise flickered briefly over his expression, but then young Kenji Ohgami nodded and tentatively reached up to grasp a hold of his brother's hand, entrusting him with his life and well-being. The older sibling squeezed back firmly in response before the duo left the park to go in the direction of the bustling downtown section of the vastly-populated city. As they walked along, Yugo let his mind wander back to thinking about the blue-haired teenage girl with her bright, unique red eyes gazing directly at him, while the image of her soft, kind smile lingered. The wolf had been alone for the past few years of his life, but with Alice and Kenji comfortably settling in to accompany him, he suddenly realized that he had no problem letting go of his former solitude.

**The End**

**Author's Note: **Whew, wow, it's been a while since I've written a Bloody Roar I fic! Not to mention a story on Yugo and Alice… I'm honestly surprised that I got hit with this idea so strongly, but I'm really glad that I was able to pull it out of my head and turn it into an actual story, hehe. There wasn't too much romance in this one, but Yugo and Alice need time to develop their relationship, right? Well then, to my dear readers and fellow fans of Yugo x Alice, I hope that you enjoyed this fic, and please be sure to leave a review! I would love to hear your feedback on this story, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

**With love for my fans,**

**Tiger5913**


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